I really appreciate this article "Scoring Power Points" written by Jamie McKenzie. He brings up some important points that people need to understand when preparing powerpoints. When the author talked about powerpointlessness, he was bringing up the point that many users of powerpoint don't use powerpoint to enhance the teaching experience, but instead these users do things that are redundant or distracting.
I've seen this at work. The only thing worse than a powerpoint that is shallow on content but full of annoying gadgets is the long paragraph that the powerpoint creator reads verbatim.
McKenzie's response to this wasteful use of powerpoint by offering up ideas to focus the powerpoints to make them more effective and more impactful:
1. Emphasize Ideas and Logic
2. Design Artfully
3. Provide Rubrics
4. Offers Exemplars
5. Deliver Dramatically
The point McKenzie makes is that powerpoints should exist to enhance the presentation or teaching experience. Keeping the focus on main points, using relevant information and data, and using the powerpoint forum to focus the attention of the viewer instead of creating a distraction are all important aspects of keeping the powerpoint effective.
I agree with Mr. McKenzie on all of his points. Use of these strategies will vastly improve powerpoint presentations.
I think we have all had experiences with good and bad presentations. We must take care not to waste time or create distractions with the tool that actually distract instead of enhance a presentation. Your summary is good and I am looking forward to seeing how you will utilize your observations when we put these concepts into practice.
ReplyDeleteNothing is worse than a teacher/professor/presenter reading their long, boring, powerpoint presentation verbatim. I reference a professor I had that did just that. Honestly, it was frustrating, and it made me wonder why I couldn't just get his notes and skip class. It felt like a waste of my time and money. I think McKenzie's suggestions are very helpful and easy for teachers to implement. I also think her points provide a clear explanation for students when using PowerPoint.
ReplyDeleteGreat word, distractions. I can't tell you how many times I have seen a power point with a clever little animation and sound effect to bring in a bullet point. The audience laughs and talks among themselves. Then a few minutes later, they are saying to each other, "What did he say?"
ReplyDeleteThank you. You were to the point and short, like a PowerPoint should be. As I was reading this I thought about my blog and as I did my blog I thought of all the horrible PowerPoints I had seen or created. I feel smarter now and propose these slides to explain powerpointlessness: (1) Wordy = Dumb, (2) PowerPoint is not your Blog! (3) Warning, this PowerPoint presentation has been proven to cause slide sickness (similar to sea sickness). Good information. Thank you!
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